Sociological Significance and Contemporary Relevance of Alienation in Durkheim and Marx

Sociological Significance and Contemporary Relevance of Alienation in Durkheim and Marx

Jaqueline Brinn

Master student in Sociology (Contemporary Social Thought) at LSE, UK

BSc Media Computer Science, Hochschule Bremen, Germany

Email Address: [email protected]

Contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 2

Meaning of Alienation in Marx and Durkheim ........................................................................... 2

Marx ........................................................................................................................................ 2

Durkheim ................................................................................................................................ 2

Comparison and Sociological significance .................................................................................. 3

Division of Labour ................................................................................................................... 4

The Paris Manuscripts ......................................................................................................... 4

The Division of Labour in Society ........................................................................................ 5

The German Ideology .......................................................................................................... 6

Societal Integration and Regulation ....................................................................................... 6

Capital ................................................................................................................................. 7

Suicide ................................................................................................................................. 7

Modern Societies and Urbanism......................................................................................... 8

Contemporary Relevance ........................................................................................................... 9

Labour ..................................................................................................................................... 9

Contemporary Working Conditions .................................................................................... 9

Unemployed and Alienation ............................................................................................. 10

Societal Integration and Power ............................................................................................ 11

Urban Integration.............................................................................................................. 11

The End of Power .............................................................................................................. 11

Terrorism as a Result of Double Alienation ...................................................................... 12

Suicide ............................................................................................................................... 14

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 15

Bibliography .............................................................................................................................. 16

Sociological Significance and Contemporary Relevance of Alienation in Durkheim and Marx Jaqueline Brinn

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Introduction

Roughly one hundred years ago, Marx and Durkheim published their work about alienation,

its causes and consequences. Due to the sociological fame of both scholars, their theories

are often cited and used to explain contemporary issues.

This essay is analyzing alienation in its meaning for Durkheim and Marx in the first chapter,

then goes deeper into the literature of both authors during to analyze the sociological

significance in the second section and comes back to a contemporary surface in the last part.

The conclusions drawn from this analyzes are that the concept of alienation is still highly

relevant in modern societies, but depending on the context, a combination of both

approaches and few adaptations might seem useful.

Meaning of Alienation in Marx and Durkheim

Marx

Building on Rousseau, Marx essentially defines individuals as good and social by nature and

society as a potential problem creating institution (Szelnyi, 2009). He stresses societys

ability to enrich human life as well as to damage and undercut it (Chernilo, 2013). This essay

will work with alienation as described in The German Ideology, Capital and the Paris

Manuscripts Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts. Notably, Marx mainly used the term

alienation in the works published after his death (Musto, 2010) , but commonly referred to

as his early work. A lot of his alienation theory bases on Hegels theory of the state of

alienation as the separation of subject and object and Kants distinction between things in

themselves and things for themselves (Szelnyi, n.d.), which will not be developed here due

to space restrictions.

It is also important to remark that Marx sees alienation as a result of a society that has

developed too many rules which are perceived by the individuals as imposed upon them

rather than being a result of a commonly build society (Plummer, 2011). This aspect will be

discussed especially in the chapter on contemporary relevance.

Durkheim

Durkheim, being closer to Hobbes, concludes that social pathologies are connected with a

lack of institutional control teaching individuals proper value systems (Szelnyi, 2009). This


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essay analyses his understanding of alienation based on The Division of Labour in Society

and Suicide, where alienation appears as fatalism (Szelnyi, 2009) or anomie (Musto,

2010). Society for Durkheim is greater than the sum of its parts and only as good as the least

among them (Stout, 2015). This results in the described need for regulation.

Durkheim describes a lack of social norms in a time with sudden industrialization and mass

movement of families into urban areas. This resulted for him in a breakdown of the ties

between individuals and their community and, thus a fragmentation of their social identity

and a feeling of isolation (Boundless, 2014).

These feelings will be discussed further in the chapters on societal Integration.

Comparison and Sociological significance

Alienation has a long history, mainly starting with Karl Marx's use in the nineteenth

century (Boundless, 2014), but while Marx argues that capitalism causes a problematic

alienation, Durkheim supports the idea that society needs to be regulated by something

alien to it (Mizgin, 2014). Since they both grew up in an industrialising society, they tried to

comprehend the societal changes occurring at that time (Plummer, 2011).

Marx believes that individuals are good and have been corrupted by society contrary to

Durkheim assuming that individuals are unrestrained and must be controlled by society

(Hirrazafar, 2014). Therefore, the problem of society for Marx is that it is overregulated

while for Durkheim it is underregulated. In other words, Marx sees capitalistic

overregulation as the origin of alienation while Durkheim also considers the lack of

institutional regulation. This includes the psychological model of Durkheim, where the

individual is in internal conflict with the moral rules of society and egoistic impulses, and

Marxs assumption that the individual is generally a social being without such conflicts

(Hirrazafar, 2014). Besides, the two scholars can also be differentiated by their proposed

solution, which Marx sees in the revolution of the proletariat, while Durkheim builds on the

creation of institutions.

It is crucial to look at their different concepts of the division of labour to understand their

individual approaches to alienation and then go deeper into the societal aspects of

integration and regulation.


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Division of Labour

In short, Marx sees in the division of labour the alienation of the industrial workers and

Durkheim its potential to provide sense in an industrial society. These two concepts seem

contrary; therefore they will be presented in their occurrence in the different works of both

authors to explain their sense inside of each scholars model of thought.

The Paris Manuscripts

In the Paris Manuscripts, Marx makes the point that wage, profit, rent and private ownership

culminate in alienation and can only be avoided by fixing the problems of capitalist economy

(Szelnyi, n.d.). He talks about the objectification of labour where the realization of

labour appears as a loss of reality, (...) self-sacrifice (...) [and] mortification. (Marx, 1844

(1932)) The worker denies himself as he does not develop freely his physical and mental

energy but mortifies his body and ruins his mind. (Marx, 1844 (1932)) Besides, he was

convinced that human beings realized themselves by labour ever since (Hirrazafar, 2014) -

close to a definition my Max v. Eyth around that time) - and that this self-defining part of

labour is removed by alienation (Hirrazafar, 2014).

Marx has two central ideas, first that society itself is build by individuals and is therefore a

natural construct and secondly that the development of modern societies makes individuals

feel that the very same society is neither of their making nor reflecting their nature, thus

leading to the feeling of alienation (Hirrazafar, 2014).

He distinguishes four kinds of alienation (referred to as estrangement of practical human

activity): the alienation from the object of production, the act of production, species being

and fellow man. The first category is characterized by a product not belonging to the

labourer and therefore perceived as something independent from him. As Estranged

Labour describes Marx the alienation from the production process resulting in wage being

a necessary consequence (Marx, 1844 (1932)) and working as a means to an end. The

third type summarized the alienation from the human body, its environment, intellect and

spirituality in the term species being. These categories conclude in the alienation from

fellow man. Marx refers here to the relationship to other men (...) and to the labour and

the object of the labour of other men (Marx, 1844 (1932)) . Marx bases all these kinds of

alienation on the reification of labour and the profit-driven economy (Szelnyi, kein Datum)


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Cause Objectification of Labour

Reification of Labour

No free Development of physical and mental Energy

Self-sacrifice, Mortification of Body and Mind

Profit-driven Economy

Wage, Profit, Rent, Private Ownership

Effect Alienantion from

Object of Production

Act of Production

Species Being

Human Body, its Environment, Intellect and Spirituality

Fellow Man

Solution Fixing Problems of capitalist Society

and private property as the material, summary expression of alienated labour (Marx, 1844

(1932)).

The Division of Labour in Society

In Durkheims work The Division of Labour, he describes an evolution of mechanical human

societies (little division of labour and similar civil actors) into organic ones (much division of

labour and dissimilar civil actors). At the same time, he describes a kind of ecosystem

between the physical environment, the size of the inhabiting population, the social solidarity

and the division of labour. In contrast to Marx, the division of labour can be the source of

solidarity. Nevertheless, this evolution might lead to pathologies caused by either the

absence of rules (anomie) or overregulation and too forced division of labour (fatalism) with

the latter being one of the main arguments of Marx at that time unpublished Paris

Manuscripts. (Szelnyi, 2009)

Fatalism caused by overregulation is characterized by increasing class conflict (working class

dissatisfied with their assigned status), system crisis and isolated individuals at/by their

work. (Szelnyi, 2009) Unlike Marx he does not see the problem in capitalism, but in the

circumstances of the division of labour.

Anomie caused by lack of regulation (e.g. unlimited competition) can hinder solidarity and

lead to individuals feeling lost within society and lacking understanding of the bigger aim of

their monotonous work. The solution for Durkheim is to fix the norm-system by creating

professional communities and solidaristic identities (commonly shared values) in addition to

institutions moderating competition (Szelnyi, 2009).

1: Alienation in the young Marx


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The German Ideology

In comparison with The Paris Manuscripts, one could argue that alienation in The German

Ideology is referring somewhat more to bigger societal issues like classes, the division of

labour and the power over an alien workforce. Here Marx is talking about alienation in a

broader sense by describing the distanced relation of a landlord to his land or a fabric

owners to his machines, which are characterized by money (in specific rent and profit)

(Marx, 1845/46 (1932)). In contrast to some medieval cities, where individual tasks/work

were much more important to the individual as their rudimental capital in form of tools and

material, the tremendous change lies for Marx in the division of labour and the solution in its

abandonment.

[T]he forces of production, the state of society, and consciousness, can and must come into

contradiction with one another, because the division of labour implies the possibility, nay

the fact that intellectual and material activity enjoyment and labour, production and

consumption devolve on different individuals, and that the only possibility of their not

coming into contradiction lies in the negation in its turn of the division of labour. (Marx,

1845/46 (1932), p. Ch 1 A3).

In Marx point of view, for a revolution against alienation to happen, it needs to become an

intolerable power, leave the majority propertyless and contrast an existing world of

wealth and culture marked by a great increase in productive power [and] a high degree of

its development with the development of productive forces (...) struggle[ing] for

necessities. (Marx, 1845/46 (1932), p. Ch. 1 A3) In contrast to Hegel, Marx sees alienation

as emerging in modernity and not as a general condition of humankind. (Szelnyi, kein

Datum). Compared to Durkheim, Marx clearly states that the division of labour is a problem

to fix and should be abandoned.

Societal Integration and Regulation

Regarding the integration and regulation of societies in a broader sense, Durkheims

analyses about suicide and Marxs publication Capital are good references. Marx is still

mostly referring to the working conditions as the origin of the problem, whereas Durkheim

focuses on society and its regulation as a whole. For Durkheim people are striving for a


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guiding hand inside of a chaotic freedom to be able to live happy lives (Plummer, 2011)

while Marx believes that more freedom is needed to bring individuals back to their satisfied

natural state.

Capital

While Marx is still using the term alienation in the Paris Manuscripts (for the

understanding of the philosophers) he rarely names it in Capital, yet developing some

accounts of alienation in the section about The Fetishism of Commodities and the Secret

thereof describing capitalist people as being dominated by their own products and the

missing direct social relations between individuals at work represented by material

relations between persons and social relations between things (Marx, 1867, p. Ch. 1 Sec. 4).

[T]he social character of labour appears to us to be an objective character of the products

themselves and producers (...) enter into social relations with one another by treating their

products as commodities and values, whereby they reduce their individual private labour to

the standard of homogeneous human labour (Marx, 1867, p. Ch. 1 Sec. 4). In Capital, Marx

is repeatedly writing about the alienation process in relation to objects of production

(products), where the value relation between the products of labour (...) [has] absolutely no

connection with their physical properties and with the material relations arising therefrom.

(Marx, 1867, p. Ch. 1 Sec. 4) For Marx the labour process has become the objectification of

human powers (Blunden, 1999-2008) .

Suicide

1In Suicide, Durkheim analyses suicide

as one possible consequence of

societal problems. Focussing on the

reasons behind this pathology, he

concludes that there are two

parameters that indicate four

different kinds of suicide. Durkheims

conclusion is that both regulation

and integration can lead to suicide if

1 Idea by (Szelnyi, 2009)

Integration (high)

Regulation Regulation

(low) (high)

Integration (low)

4: Diagramm of Suicide1

Altruistic Suicide

Fatalistic Suicide

Egoistc Suicide

Anomic Suicide


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they are out of balance. For him alienated individuals (low integration) commit suicide either

due to no social regulations (egoistic) or because of them (anomic) and integrated

individuals because of lacking a function in society (altruistic) or because of their function

(fatalistic). Marx ideology would, in this case, only cover the high regulated part of the

diagram where individuals are overregulated.

Modern Societies and Urbanism

Regardless of the differences between Marx and Durkheim, their ideas can also complement

each other. If Durkheim's concept of the four categories of suicide and his understanding for

social guidance is seen on a private level and Marx approach related to too restricted

working conditions at a work-related level, they can exist in parallel. Regarding their

critiques of the society of their time, they would probably both agree that too much

regulation is not healthy for its individuals. Durkheim would certainly argue that regulation is

needed and that a lack of regulation can be equally bad if causing a moral maze. Marx might

stress that too much regulation always leads to alienation while Durkheim, referring to the

two parameters of pathologies, might consider that the integration parameter could still

weaken the social consequences of too much or too little regulation.

Although neither Durkheim nor Marx is focussing directly on urbanism in the mentioned

works, urbanism is closely related to the industrialization period and important to consider

as a preparation for the next chapter on contemporary relevance.

For Durkheim the loss of traditional strong ties (bonds to family, church and communities)

and clear expectations was the main problem of the industrializing and urbanizing society.

The urban industrialized worker experienced in his new environment, cities with dozens of

subcultures, a loss of his moral compass. (Plummer, 2011)

For Marx, who sees alienation as associated to capitalistic systems in general, urban workers

are losing control of their lives not because of a lack of moral guidance, but due to

overregulated non-autonomous and bourgeoisie driven work. By being alienated from his

work, the individual then becomes alienated from himself. (Boundless, 2014).

Though it is difficult to isolate the effects of urbanity and capitalism and urbanism came up

in different economic systems, capitalist economies seem to encourage urbanism.

Therefore, some Marxist scholars applied Marx theories also to urbanism (xx, kein Datum).


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Contemporary Relevance

Weather one focuses on the differences or on the similarities between Marx and Durkheim,

their influence on contemporary sociology is clearly identifiable (Hirrazafar, 2014). While the

markets, political and religious institutions are the product of a long tradition of human

societal development, it happens especially in complex (capitalistic) societies that they are

perceived as an independent super power (Plummer, 2011) and unwilling obedience appears

where creative participation would be appropriate. For Marx capitalism causes alienation,

but it could certainly be argued that other advanced industrial economies are causing similar

effects (Plummer, 2011).

Roughly a century has passed since Marx and Durkheim have published their theories of

alienation and anomie. Nonetheless, our contemporary world still has issues to solve

regarding working conditions and symptoms of alienation (e.g. suicide). Interestingly, Google

search requests for alienation reaches its peaks every year in November and March. This

might actually be related to exam periods, confirmed by the fact that July has the fewest

requests. The following chapters will focus on labour, social structures (integration and

power) and pathologies (terrorism and suicide) and analyze if the theories of Marx and

Durkheim are still relevant for our contemporary society.

Labour

In western economies a significant part of the production processes has been outsourced to

third world countries with lower wages. Nevertheless, it seems appropriate to focus on the

working conditions nowadays as this shift not necessarily brought about the increased work

satisfaction anticipated by some enthusiasts. A second issue regarding labour is

unemployment which will be analyzed afterwards.

Contemporary Working Conditions

Alienated work reloaded titled a German newspaper recently an article comparing

industrial work at the time of Marx with working conditions today, where the everyday life

of most people has nothing to do with the idealized smartly dressed globetrotter jetting

between continents while earning a fortune (Gumz, 2014).

Increased use of machines and computers also leads to less real production as part of the

work and less exercising of the body. Both factors might approve the idea that the worker is


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removed from natural manufacturing process with a visible product in the end as well as the

corporal feeling of having done something. Being alienated from the object of production,

the act of production, the human species and fellow man is therefore still relevant today.

Another point to consider in this discussion is that increased speed at work (mostly related

to technological optimization) and international competition has augmented the pressure

creating some modern pathologies of labour, for example burnout. On the other hand,

some employees are facing boreout at work, which is related to the other kind of

alienation caused by a lack of proper work and a perceived needlessness of the work

assigned. The later would be best described in Durkheims words by egoistic (having low

regulation and low integration).

Unemployed and Alienation

If the theory of Marx is true, one would expect that unemployment leads to less alienation

since the alienating work is gone and no forced structures are put upon the individual.

Durkheims theory might suggest that the loss of regulation might lead to severe problems if

integration is not optimal. Jahoda and Lazarsfeld made a huge study in Austria in 1933

(Siedenbiedel, 2015), where an entire village got unemployed due to a shut-down of a fabric.

The results showed that there are four types of people. They are characterized by apathy

(25 percent), desperateness (11 percent), resignation (48 percent) or toughness (16

percent). Marxs theory can in this context only be true under working conditions and not for

unemployment as the loss of their work was clearly negative for 84 percent of the

participants and created no revolutionary consciousness. Regarding the theory of Durkheim,

that the integration might be important to the impact of regulation, one has to analyze the

different groups. The first one was described as regular drinkers and even abandoned their

children; the second lost most of their hope as well while the third pretended to the public

to have an ordered life without really expecting much from their life anymore. The forth

group was making plans for their future and trying to change their destiny. Following the

conclusions drawn from this study it seems as if the personal attitude was an important

distinguisher between the groups (Siedenbiedel, 2015). Their social integration, thus, seems

not as important as many of them for example had children and the majority still cared

about their public image.


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What seems to support some of Durkheims theory nonetheless is that the rhythm of life got

dominated by the payment day of their unemployment benefit and that the cultivation of a

garden increased happiness (Siedenbiedel, 2015).

Societal Integration and Power

In addition to the working environment, another adequate area for analyzing alienation in

our contemporary world is the social integration in urban areas and the shift in power

distribution as well as their consequences.

Urban Integration

The recent book Gesellschaft der Angst [Society of Fear] describes current society as

dominated by the sense of being thrown into a world that no longer belongs to its

individuals (Bude, 2014). This reflects both Marxs and Durkheims description of alienation.

Inhabitants of skyscrapers may experience social alienation if no personal interaction is

happening with the people living in close proximity (Boundless, 2014). Furthermore, the

increased mobility that leads to more frequent changes of residence might increase this

effect.

Some debates also mention the increased ICT usage as an alienating factor from the physical

local environment, but most studies prove the increasing social network while

communication mostly remains between the same close contacts. So this might be

ambiguous as an explanation for not socializing with neighbors. A newspaper, though, had

this observant headline We are socialized to focus on our differences, rather than on our

similarities. (Stout, 2015) which might be an explanation for behaviour in urban areas. In

Durkheims words, society shifted from a mechanical human one with similar civil actors into

an organic one with dissimilar civil actors.

The End of Power

As democracies and the internet changed the way power is perceived and executed in some

parts of the world nowadays, it is useful to use some of the arguments made by Moises

Nam in his book The End of Power and to compare them with Marxs and Durkheims

concepts of alienation.


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Nam argues basically that the possibility for small actors to influence is leading to a dilemma

as they have the power to veto but not to create something new. Following this argument

societies are becoming more constrained and more anarchic at the same time as protests,

boycotts and vetoes seem to overcharge current governments. He then concludes that the

combination of a more demanding public and an inefficient government is dangerous and

increasing transparency (e.g. by WikiLeaks) damages public trust. Alienation within societies,

for Nam, is a greater threat to democracy than modern threat like China) or pre-modern

ones like radical Islam. (Loofbourow, 2015)

This seems quite similar to the danger Durkheim describes when he was writing about the

anomie caused by a lack of regulation, which hinders solidarity and leads to lost individuals

in society that cannot see the bigger aim anymore.

Nam goes further, though, by claiming that alienation is not the problem, but that the

problem of contemporary societies is that the alienated individuals are no longer alone

alienated. This means that they can find likeminded people and even though they do not feel

connected to their traditional institutions anymore, they identify with their new identity,

which might be for example radicals. Bigger issues cannot be solved by this system,

following Nam, as it is increasingly based on short-term incentives. The result is an

increasing number of bottom-up initiatives by wealthy micropowers facing traditional

superpowers. For Nam in the 21st century, power is easier to get, harder to use and

easier to lose. (Loofbourow, 2015)

Alienation on a larger scale has, thus, a tremendous contemporary relevance. In the sequent

chapter two possible pathologies of alienation on a larger scale will be analyzed more in

detail.

Terrorism as a Result of Double Alienation

For Durkheim alienation is connected to a significant discrepancy between the common

ideologies and values and their practicability in daily life. This leads to individuals feeling

uncomfortable with their environment without a position inside of its social order

(Boundless, 2014).

In a state of moral free-fall these individuals lack structure, constraint and moral guidance

for living their lives, which the weakened society cannot provide. Therefore, the individuals


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drift from one moral mindset to another. For Durkheim contemporary citizens desperately

want a more coercive society (Plummer, 2011).

A contemporary event, the attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine, might be interpreted as

an example of this trend combined with other factors. This section will only consider the

parts relevant for the concept of alienation and does not strive to provide a complete

analyze of the event, the situation in France nor a religious comparison. A recent article by

Dr. Awan, a specialist in Terrorism, provides insights, why terrorism could be associated with

modern forms of alienation. He discovered that religious avengers are mainly religiously

illiterate and have been raised mostly with only a rudimentary grasp of their parental

faith (Awan, 2015). This is for him, as Durkheim might agree, a kind of alienation from the

traditional background. Awan provides the example of two British Jihadist which were

carrying the books Islam for Dummies and The Koran for Dummies and the attackers of

Charlie Hebdo having a non-religious lifestyle in the past and been describes as an

occasional Muslim and a confused chameleon. This could be associated with Durkheims

non-regulated individual striving for integration.

Apart from this, Awan further describes a double alienation from both minority (ethnic or

parental) culture, and majority (mainstream or host society) culture (Awan, 2015) and an

unwillingness or incapability to fulfill either expectations. He concludes that this cultural

schizophrenia and the lack of belonging then leads to missing paradigms for both cultures

and religion becomes the new anchor of identity. Consequently, the description of a

global [] community of believers [] not recogniz[ing] color, race or nationality [ and ]

equally besieged from all sides [], then [...] becomes the sole locus of identity and

belonging. (Awan, 2015)

Awan also stresses that converts share certain characteristics and are more likely to accept

totalitarian visions as religion is providing meaning and purpose in the lives of those who

desperately lack it (Awan, 2015). An approval for this sees Awan for instance in the pursue

of conformity of suicide bombers. (Awan, 2015)

Modern terrorism, thus, seems to have elements that can be described by the alienation

concept of Durkheim.


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Suicide

In order to test Durkheims theory of suicide, this section will take the examples of China and

South Korea and analyze their suicide rates. It has to be stressed, that political and cultural

interest may manipulate the official figures and that in several third world countries the

intense use of some herbicides and insecticides in rural farming areas is known for causing

suicidal behaviour.

China was having one the highest suicide rates in the 1990s (mostly rural women) but now

has one of the lowest rates worldwide. Interestingly, it is also reported that the urbanization

is negatively correlated (The Economist, 2014).

This seems to be contradictory to the expectations of industrialization by both Marx and

Durkheim, taking into account that both regulation and integration are supposed to

decrease. Taking into account the Chinese culture juxtaposed to Western societies, there

might be an explanation in either a generally higher governmental regulation or a stronger

integration of friends due to the lack of siblings.

The later seems realistic as the highest decrease has been for rural women under 35. What

might also approve the influence of the one-child-politics is the increase in suicide rates

among the elderly. They are left with fewer caretakers in rural areas and more anonymity in

cities. (The Economist, 2014)

The example of South Korea is interesting as elderly suicides are the highest worldwide, right

after China. Loneliness and poverty are the main causes as small urban flats cannot sustain

three-generation households and paradigms regarding the obligations of children to come

up for their parents are shifting (The Economist, 2013). Loneliness would of course go along

with Durkheims theory of suicide, but the separation of different age groups seems to be

crucial especially comparing the decrease of suicide rates in young generations while

elderly rates are increasing significantly.


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Conclusion

The alienation effect, described a century ago by thinkers like Durkheim and Marx, has

apparently not disappeared.

Marx model, seeing society as a potential problem with its many rules, seems to remain

relevant for working environments and parts of urbanism, but has limitations explaining the

emotional state of unemployed and suicide statistics.

While Marx is mostly referring to the working conditions, Durkheim focuses on society and

its regulation more broadly. Nonetheless, even his model, where the absence of rules and

overregulation can be problematic, still seems to contradict effects of burnout and

boreout. On the other side Durkheims theory seems to be a good foundation to explain

contemporary issues like terrorism and suicide. His evolution of society into an organic one

with dissimilar civil actors where individuals drift from one moral mindset to another comes

close to the phenomena described by Awan as double alienation and the unproportional

high rate of converts in totalitarian religious groups. For Nam, alienation within societies is

one of the greatest threats to democracy.

Regarding the reasons of suicide, Durkheim concludes that there are two parameters

(integration and regulation). The contemporary figures in China show, that urbanization is

negatively correlated to suicide. At first this seems contradictory to the assumption that

integration and regulation is decreasing by urbanism, but by taking into account the culture

and separating different age groups the numbers might support Durkheims model.

The two models of Marx and Durkheim can also be differentiated by their proposed solution,

which Marx sees in the revolution of the proletariat, while Durkheim builds on the creation

of institutions. In order to analyze this further research on the recent protest of the Arab

Spring might be necessary to prove Marx theses. Durkheims proposal seems to be validated

by the increasing number of wealthy micropowers.

Concluding it seems that regarding todays global infrastructure and work distribution Marx

argumentation of alienation seems more suitable, whereas the alienation perceived by

alienated individuals e.g. due to urbanism can be better described by Durkheims model.


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Sociological Significance and Contemporary Relevance of Alienation in Durkheim and Marx

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